Charles Wang

Charles B. Wang (August 19, 1944 – October 21, 2018) was a Chinese-American billionaire, businessman, and philanthropist, who was a co-founder and CEO of Computer Associates International, Inc. (later renamed CA Technologies).

He was a minority owner (and past majority owner) of the NHL's New York Islanders ice hockey team and their AHL affiliate.

In 1976, at age 31, Wang (pronounced "Wong") launched Computer Associates, using credit cards for funding.

Wang then grew Computer Associates into one of the country's largest ISVs (independent software vendors).

Wang and his business partner Russell Artzt established Computer Associates in 1976, guiding the company toward its current standing as one of the largest ISVs in the world.

One year later, Computer Associates became the first enterprise software company to provide multi-platform products, foreshadowing its ongoing emphasis on compatibility and integration.

In 1979, three years after the company's founding, Wang had installed his older brother Tony, a one-time corporate lawyer, as president and COO.

By 1989, Computer Associates became the second software-only company to reach US$1 billion in revenues.

Wang's tenure as CEO of Computer Associates was marked by rapid growth, frequently as a result of strict hiring practices and high expectations for executives of acquired companies.

Nearly all of Computer Associates' managers were promoted from within, so very few acquired managers were kept.

Newly hired salespeople had some sales experience, but specifically not in software.

A Master's Degree in Business Administration held little to no value at CA, so employment candidates and acquired employees with MBAs were typically rejected.

It was unusual for a technician to be considered for sales because the firm's training program was geared toward products instead of professional selling.

The pass/fail demarcation was sharp, so perceived inadequate sales performance meant termination.

All told, Wang engaged in several dozen acquisitions and those acquired facilities were repopulated with Computer Associates employees.

He was also known for his commitment to a family-oriented management style, and for promoting several women to management positions.

Tony held the position until his retirement in 1992 to make way for Sanjay Kumar, who joined the company via its 1987 surprising acquisition of archrival Uccel Corporation.

Wang authored two books to help executives master technology: Techno Vision (1994, McGraw-Hill) and Techno Vision II (1997, McGraw-Hill).

A previous stock option set in 1995 specified that a certain number of shares would vest when Computer Associates' shares sustained a target price.

In 1998, Nancy Li, Charles Wang's second wife, was named the company's Chief Technology Officer ("CTO").

Responding to criticism over his so-called "paternalistic" management style, Wang had argued that the investment community punished Computer Associate's stock price because of his refusal to override his sense of familial loyalty to avoid the appearance of nepotism.

In 1998, Wang had initiated a $9 billion hostile takeover for the shares of Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC).

The Washington Post reported CSC management's "concern" about the tender offer by alluding to Computer Associates' "ties to foreigners."

It was a pointed reference to Wang's origin and that certain Chinese government institutions (as well as those in North America, Europe and elsewhere) were Computer Associates clients.

The suggestion was that becoming linked with Computer Associates would jeopardize CSC's contracts with U.S. government agencies.

Blaming what in his view was a witch-hunt with racial motivations, Wang dropped the tender offer.

The benchmark was met in 1998, and the three executives combined received nearly $1 billion in Computer Associates stock with Wang himself netting $700 million; he had already been the highest paid CEO in the U.S. for the prior four years.

Since then, at least four other class-action suits were filed against Computer Associates, all of which had named Wang specifically, and all of which were settled or dismissed without finding any liability on Wang's part.

In 2000, a class-action lawsuit accused Wang, then president Kumar and co-founder Artzt of wrongly reporting more than $2.5 billion in revenue in its 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 fiscal (April through March) years in order to artificially inflate the stock price.

As the controversy continued to dog Wang even after he returned a portion of the stock award, he quit as CEO in 2000 and later resigned as chairman of the board in 2002.

Wang retired from Computer Associates in 2002.

He was an active philanthropist, working with such organizations as Smile Train, the World Childhood Foundation, the Islanders Children's Foundation and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, among others.

In January 2022, the new UBS Arena in Belmont, home of the New York Islanders, raised a plaque to honor Wang for all his work and dedication to the team.

Wang's net worth was estimated to be $17.6 billion.

Charles B. Wang was born in Shanghai to parents Kenneth and Mary Wang.

He has two brothers, Anthony W. Wang and Francis Wang.

His father was a Supreme Court judge in the Republic of China.

In the closing years of the Chinese Civil War which saw the Nationalist government flee to Taiwan, the Wangs moved to Queens, New York City when he was eight years old.

He attended Brooklyn Technical High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Wang earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Queens College and began his computer career at Columbia University's Riverside Research Institute.